The Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala will accommodate floating solar power plants with a combined capacity of 20 MW, the Press Trust of India (PTI) said on Monday.
The design for the two 10-MW facilities, to be constructed on unused water reservoirs, is being carried out by the Arka Renewable Energy College, S P Gon Chaudhury, head of the college, told the news agency. According to him, the plants will be the largest floating photovoltaic (PV) facilities in India.
The Andhra Pradesh facility is expected to be put on stream next year, while the location for the plant in Kerala has not been confirmed yet. Each of the two projects is seen to require an investment of about INR 700 million (USD 10.7m/EUR 9.1m), which will be funded by the World Bank. They will be developed either by the respective state governments or by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), Chaudhury said.
The largest floating solar plant operating in India is a 100-kW facility in Kerala owned by power major NTPC Ltd
By Baishakhi Dutta
